Tiger and Bunny: Aftershock
by Tyyourshoes
Summary: A story about Kotetsu's new opportunity about 2 years after the series ended.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm just going off of memory here, so if any of the information is wrong, or you think I missed something, comment or message me and I will fix it!_

Kotetsu sighed as he walked back to his home in Oriental Town, the smell of new growth that accompanies spring hung the air. He had just dropped Kaede off at a friend's house for a sleep over party, and was lost in his thoughts. He gave a wry smile, thinking of how much she had grown. It had been a few months since he had joined the Second League, but he had come to see Kaede for a few days, something he intended to do more often than he used to. Not that it would be an issue soon anyways, since his Hundred Power had recently dipped below a minute.

Strolling up the path, he entered the house and made his way to the kitchen, hoping his mother had started dinner. He expected to see Anju humming happily over a steaming pot, but what he saw in addition to this threw him off guard.

"Mr. Saito, what are you doing here?" Kotetsu exclaimed.

"- - - - - - - - - - -" whispered Saito, inaudible as always. Kotetsu frowned and was about to lean closer, but Saito pulled out what looked to be a hard hat with a megaphone mounted on top of it and put it on.

"Is this better, Tiger?" asked Saito, his voice booming from the contraption.

"Er... Yes, I suppose it is," replied Kotetsu.

"Anyway, I'm here to give you some excellent news, Tiger!" exclaimed Saito.

"What is it, Mr. Saito?" asked Kotetsu.

"I believe I have discovered a way for you to regain your ability to its former degree!" he said excitedly. " I have been doing considerable research since you informed us of your waning power a year and a half ago, and I have compiled enough data to come to this conclusion."

Kotetsu stood there in awe, unable to speak.

"Well don't just stand there gaping," scolded his mother, "You should be thanking Mr. Saito!"

"It's just..." said Kotetsu, fumbling for words. But he could find nothing to say. For two years, although he had tried to make the best of it, he had sunk deeper into depression each time a few seconds were shaved off of his power's time. While he did have Kaide in his life more now, having the one thing he felt he was truly meant to do be slowly stripped away from him was agony.

"I was beginning to think I wouldn't find anything until I compared brain scans from you and Barnaby," said Saito. "Then I noticed that while similar parts of your brains activated in conjunction with your powers, yours were weaker as you progressively lost time. Using this, I have developed a serum that should return your powers!"

"But... How did you get brain scans for me and Bunny?" asked Kotetsu.

"Those suits of yours do more than protect you, they're also equipped with a number of sensors so I can see how you're doing during a fight."

"Well, that's fantastic, Mr. Saito," said Kotetsu happily "Now I'll be able to partner up with Bunny again!"

Saito simply gave Kotetsu a small grin. Kotetsu himself was beaming as if he had just been declared the King of Heroes.

"_Wait until I tell Kaede_," he thought happily, slurping at the soup Anju had prepared.

The next day, after Kotetsu had bid Saito farewell and promised to see him as soon as he returned to Sternbuild, he walked to go pick up Kaede from her sleepover.

"Kaede! Daddy missed you," he exclaimed as she met him at the street.

"I was only gone for a night Dad," Kaede huffed, keeping pace with him as they strolled back to their house. Unperturbed, Kotetsu continued.

"Daddy has something very important to tell you Kaide. There might be a way to return the power I've lost!"

Kaede stopped suddenly and turned to look at him.

"Are you sure, Dad?" she asked, not quite sure if he was joking.

"Yes! Mr. Saito, the scientist who developed my mech suit, thinks he's discovered a way," said Kotetsu enthusiastically

Kaede shuffled a bit, looking conflicted. "How often will you visit?" she asked tentatively.

"Actually," said Kotetsu, giving her a small grin, "I thought we might try having you live with me in Sternbuild, after the school year ends."

Kaede let out a small gasp of excitement. She gave him a quick hug, and then ran ahead of him to go tell Anju.

"Kaede, wait!" yelled Kotetsu, running after her with a panicked look on his face. "I haven't told your grandmother yet!"

**End Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

Once again, if I make an error, or you have a suggestion, please message, email, or comment!

"Bye Muramasa!" called Kotetsu as he stepped onto the bus headed back to Sternbuild.  
"Tell Kaede to behave!" Muramasa gave a slight nod before returning to his ancient van, ready to make the restof his alcoholic deliveries. Kotetsu found a nice window seat and made himself comfortable, putting in his earbuds. As the bus pulled away from the stop, Kotetsu was already fast asleep, his cheek smushed comically against the glass.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the next stop is Silver Stage." Kotetsu gave a small grimace as he awoke from his cat nap, already feeling the crick that had developed in his neck from leaning on the window. As the bus hissed to a halt,  
he grabbed his overnight bag off the luggage rack and made his way towards his apartment. Riding the elevator up, Kotetsu realized he was glad to be back inSternbuild. Despite being able to see Kaede and immerse himself in Oriental Town's secluded charm, he always missed the bustle of the city's people and its gleamingtowers. After hunting through his bag for the key, (which had found its way into a dirty sock somehow) he managed to enter his apartment without further difficulty. But just as he was about to flip on the TV and see what the heroes were up to, his communicator chimed, signaling a call. Pushing his finger to the glowing 'call', Kotetsu was greeted with the face of Mr. Saito. "Oh! Hello, Mr. Saito," Kotestu said with a twinge of guilt, having just remembered hepromised to call him as soon as he got back. "How long have you been back?" Saito asked, his voice puzzlingly louder through thecommunicator. "I'm waiting for you at the lab!" "I...I was just about to come," replied Kotetsu with a barely veiled lie. "I'm just dropping my bag off at my house." Giving a slightly dissatisfied nod, Saito ended the call. Kotetsu gave an inward sigh andheaded out of his apartment to the monorail station.

After awkwardly making his way past security (even after almost 2 years the security guard wasn't sure if he was a murderer or not) and taking a long elevator ride up to theHeroTV offices, Kotetsu was greeted by a borderline hostile Saito, already wearing his microphone hat contraption. "What took you so long?" he demanded, nearly pulling Kotetsu to the floor as hedragged him into the labs. They promptly arrived at the pods that Kotetsu and Barnaby had used to regain their strength after grueling fights, and that Barnaby had used toremember his killer. "I have altered one of the pods to administer the serum I developed for you!" said Saito,  
a hint of pride in his voice. "As soon as you fall asleep, I'll administer the serum. You should only be out for an hour or so." "Sounds good," replied Kotetsu, giving his hands an eager rub. As he lay in the pod,  
Saito prepping the serum and the machine, a thought crossed Kotetsu's mind. "Hey," he called to Saito, "where are all the Heroes? I didn't see them when I came up."

"They're out fighting a NEXT with electrical abilities near the power plant," he replied,  
barely taking his eyes off of the computer screen. "They should be back by the time you're done. Now close your eyes. You will smell something like mouthwash, and thenyou should wake up in about an hour, got it?" Kotetsu nodded, the pod closing around him. He almost had enough time to startworrying about what might happen, but he was overpowered by a sharp, minty scentand soon lapsed into unconsciousness.

55 minutes later

Saito gave a small grin as he prepared to halt the serum injection and begin to wakeKotetsu. Everything had proceeded as expected, and Kotetsu's brain scans appearednormal. But just as he was about to engage the waking sequence, he noticed the lights began to flicker. Concern washed over his face, and as he pondered the possiblecause, the room plunged into inky darkness. "Shit!" swore Saito, stumbling his way toward the door between the control room andthe pods. As he pulled at the door, however, a chill creeped up his spine. The door was electrical, and since there was a power outage he was trapped. He could see a smallglimmer through the observation window overlooking the pods, and this sent acompletely new wave of fear over him. Light still shone from the viewing pane in thepod. He had rigged the pods on their own generator in case such a power outageshould occur.

But that was before he had rigged Kotetsu's with the serum injecting system, which stillcontinued to work. And Saito could do nothing to halt it until the power came back on.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Kotetsu gradually became aware of a chill overcoming his body. Opening his eyes, heonly saw darkness. But it was not a complete darkness. He could see a distant glimmer of a light. After walking towards it for a few minutes, he saw that the light came from asmall, blue orb, floating about waist high. It flickered weakly, like a candle about to burnout. As he studied the orb, however, the flickering lessened until it shone steadily. Asteady warmth seemed to emanate from the sphere. Suddenly, the orb flared brightly,  
and Kotetsu saw cracks begin to form. As he stepped back, the orb burst, and Kotetsuwas enveloped in light and searing heat.

"Kotetsu!" Kotetsu surfaced from his sleep, his head pounding with a steady ache. "Kotetsu, wake up!" Kotetsu opened his eyes blearily to find he was on the floor of the lab next to the pod,  
Saito's worried face looking down on him. "My head feels like it's split open," grumbled Kotetsu. "And why am I lying on the floor?" "Well," said Saito, "You were in the pod for longer than you were supposed to be. For half an hour longer, to be exact." "What?" exclaimed Kotetsu, "What happened?" "Well, right before I was going to disconnect you, the power went out in the building. Butnot in your pod, because it has a generator so you don't become trapped and have touse your Hundred Power. So I was helpless in the control room until the power cameback on and I could disconnect you." "What does this mean? Will the extra serum do anything?" "I'm afraid I don't know, Kotetsu. I'd recommend going home and resting, though. Wecan test your Hundred Power tomorrow and see if the serum worked."

Kotetsu went to his apartment and sat on his couch, flicking through repetitivecommercials and the drama of daytime soap operas. Around dinner time, he whippedup some fried rice, (Still unable to make anything else) and munched thoughtfully at thedinner table. If everything works out, thought Kotetsu, I'll be able to be partners with Bunny again. After Kotetsu had joined the second Hero league, he and Barnaby had,  
understandably, seen much less of each other. Barnaby had retained his lead rank since Kotetsu's departure, and Kotetsu was glad he was still doing so well. He justwished, however, that he could've been fighting alongside Barnaby still with the samecamaraderie they'd had. Like when they'd fought the H-01 android. Sighing, Kotetsumoved his bowl to the dishwasher and returned to watching TV. After watching a boringnewscast and the successful apprehension of a crook by the other Heroes, he turned offthe TV and went to bed.

Kotetsu groaned as the shrill cry of his alarm clock pierced his sleep. Rolling over, heslapped his hand down on the clock, hoping to silence it.

Crunch

Kotetsu opened his eyes. That didn't sound right. He sat up and turned to look at his nightstand, where his alarm clock had been reduced to a rubble of plastic and metal. "Now how did I-"

Kotetsu stopped as he stared down at his hands. They were, as well as the rest of his body, engulfed in a very familiar blue aura. I've got to see Saito right away! ThoughtKotetsu, hurrying to get dressed. I hope he can figure out what's going on. Hurrying tothe roof of his apartment, he put his mask on. He burst through the door to the roof, andwas soon bounding across the cityscape towards the Apollon Media building.

Kotetsu careened through the doors of the building and shouted a quick apology to thesecurity guard as he entered the elevator. As soon as the doors opened up, Kotetsurocketed to the labs. He soon found Saito, returning the pod that had given him theserum to its original format. "- - - - - -?" whispered Saito. "Eh?" Saito scurried over to a workbench and put on his hard hat, which was outfitted withspeakers. "I asked what you are doing here!" Saito repeated, his voice blaring out of the speakers.  
"I did not expect you to be here for at least another hour." "Well, my Hundred Power is working..." began Kotetsu. "Excellent! When did you activate it?" asked Saito. "Erm, I don't exactly know. It was activated when I woke up this morning. I got over hereas quickly as I could." "Hmm," mused Saito. "This is certainly an interesting development. How long has itbeen since you woke up?" "About... 10 minutes," stated Kotetsu, spying a clock across the lab. "Well, while we wait for it to wear off, let's do some tests to see if the strength of your Hundred Power has changed," suggested Saito. "Sure," Kotetsu agreed. Giving a small nod, Saito led Kotetsu to the testing facilities.

30 minutes. It took 30 minutes for Kotetsu's Hundred Power to wear off. He had been lucky that the sparring robot hadn't taken off his head when it happened. Barely having time to give asigh of relief, Saito had pulled him into the observation room to share the data results. "Your strength is the same as before," Saito had said, "as is your speed, endurance,  
and agility. I'd like to test you once a week though, just to see if anything changes." Kotetsu contemplated this as he rode up with Saito to speak to Mr. Lloyds and Agnes about returning to Hero TV in the main league.


End file.
